Why Tiramisu?

There are already many great documentation tools out there, so why Tiramisu? When we started Timeleap, we wanted a tool that was easy to use, easy to extend, and easy to read. We also needed a tool that integrated well with our website.

We considered using Markdown, or ReStructuredText, but none of them satisfied our needs. Markdown is not context-free and not easily parsable. Tiramisu is easily parsable by an LL parser. We also didn't like how new features were added to Markdown. We found similar issues with ReStructuredText. Although it is more powerful than Markdown, it is also more complex.

Syntax Comparison

Here is a comparison of Tiramisu with other popular documentation languages:

Links

Markdown:

ReStructuredText:

Tiramisu:

Looking at the Markdown example, it is not immediately clear that the text inside the square brackets is a link. The ReStructuredText example is better, but it is still not as clear as the Tiramisu example.

Images

Markdown:

ReStructuredText:

Tiramisu:

The Markdown example is not as clear as the ReStructuredText and Tiramisu examples. The ReStructuredText example is more verbose than the Tiramisu example.

Code Blocks

Markdown:

ReStructuredText:

Tiramisu:

or

The Markdown example is not as clear as the ReStructuredText and Tiramisu examples. The ReStructuredText example is more verbose than the Tiramisu example.

Tables

Markdown:

ReStructuredText:

Tiramisu:

Markdown and ReStructuredText tables are not easy to write; that's why there are many online tools to help you generate them. Tiramisu tables are easy to write and read.

Alerts

Markdown (GitBook):

Markdown (MDX):

ReStructuredText:

Tiramisu: